In The Heights
by Seraphique
Summary: Katara is back from her first year of college in California and she's back in Washington Heights where she has to face her dad and brother about what really happened while she was away in California, at the same time she's falling for Zuko, an old friend and her dad's employee. As things are changing around the barrio what's going to happen in the Heights?
1. Breathe

**AN**: First story on FF, I haven't written anything for a while though so feedback is more than welcome. This is a complete Zutara story than may hint at Jetara. Taang and Sukka also included. I'm in college so I may not be consistent in uploading, reviews and stuff would help though. This story is partly based on the musical In The Heights, some lyrics will be included. DISCLAIMER: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender, or it's characters, I don't own the musical In The Heights either.

Summary: Katara is back from her first year of college in California and she's back in Washington Heights where she has to face her dad and brother about what really happened while she was away in California, at the same time she's falling for Zuko, an old friend and her dad's employee. As things are changing around the barrio what's going to happen in the Heights?

**AN**: this chapter is based on the song Breathe from the In The Heights soundtrack

A yellow taxi pulled into a neighborhood when the passenger asked the cabbie to stop. "I'll walk from here," she looked out the window and said in a softer voice, "It's been a while since I've been home." she paid the fare and grabbed her suitcase. As the cabbie pulled away Katara took a deep breath, "Ok, just breathe." she started walking down the street.

She sees familiar faces, the faces of the people who she grew up with, the ones who were now positively beaming at her as she walked down the streets, all these people 9 months ago had all told her she was going places. She smiled and waved, "Hey guys." in her head she added _the biggest disappointment you know, the kid couldn't hack it she's back and she's walking real slow._ "Just breathe." she muttered to herself again.

She continues on her way and warbling from one of the open windows played an old, forgotten bolero. As she walks down the street her mind goes back to the last time she had walked the street, she was saying her goodbyes to the neighborhood, her flight out to California was leaving early the next morning and everyone had gathered together, each saying their goodbyes and each saying the same basic thing, "Katara, be brave and you're gonna be fine." it seemed like ages ago to her though it had been only a few months before. As the kids she had babysat for clung to her legs, the older residents gave her gifts, blessing her journey and wishing her luck.

"Mira! It's Katara!" she passed by a group of women, all waved to her, she smiled and kept going.

"You know what? _No me preocupo por ella_" she kept walking, _They're not worried about me._

"_Mira, allí esta nuestra estrella*_" she heard, _they are all counting on me to succeed._

Katara let out a heavy sigh, _I'm one of the few who made it out, the one who always got good grades, _she turned the corner and leaned against the wall, _maybe I should have stayed home. _She sighed again, "Breathe Katara, just breathe." From where she was standing she could see her dad's home, her home. She saw the fire escape and thought_ I remember when I was a kid, I would stay up late, and climb up that fire escape. The top was never high enough for me, I always wanted to go up in the world, maybe that's why I applied for so many scholarships. _She scoffed, _fat load of help those were, they didn't keep me in school now did they? I got every scholarship, I saved every dollar, I was the first to go to college, how can I tell them why. I'm coming back home, with my eyes on the horizon, just me and the GWB asking, "Gee Kat, what'll you be?"_

She shook her head, _enough gotta put on a show._ She straightened her spine, reapplied a smile on her face and stopped by her neighbors house, "Hi Mrs. Rodriguez, how have you been?"

"_Ay _Katara! _Mira que boni__!__ta estas** _You're even more beautiful than when you left!" Katara blushed and pushed her hair back, she had long stopped wearing a braid and her brown hair had grown longer, it now fell past her shoulders, down to her waist, framing her face and making her bright blue eyes stand out, "Thank you."

"Now, _dime,_ tell me how was California? How was school?"

"It was fine." she forced a smile, "Lots of tests, lots of papers." Mrs. Rodriguez opened her mouth to ask another question but Katara cut her off, "Do you know if my dad is at the dispatch?"

"Ah, maybe, I think he may have left to do an errand or something, but he might be back by now, why don't you go look?"

"I will, bye Mrs. Rodriguez, have a good day."

She grabbed her suitcase again and started to walk down to her father's taxi dispatch. As she got to the door she suddenly froze, _shit, what is dad gonna say? Can I really go in there and say "I know that I'm letting you down…"_

"Ah, Katara."

"GranGran!" Katara whirled around and saw the woman the entire neighborhood had adopted as their grandmother. Katara set down her suitcase and bag and practically flew into the old woman's arms.

"Oh I've missed you so much!" she said breathlessly.

"I've missed you too _mija" ***_

**AN:** first chapter done, I know it's short, hopefully the other ones will be longer with more of the gAang making appearances. Seeing as the neighborhood of Washington Heights is a Hispanic neighborhood, there will be some phrases and words thrown in that are Spanish.

* _mira, alli esta nuestra estrella_ roughly translates to, "look there's our star"

**_Ay _Katara! _Mira que boni__!__ta estas= _Oh Katara! Look how beautiful you are/have become

*** _mija_ is a term of endearment meaning daughter. often used by people other than the girls actual moms and dads.

reviews may help me post more *hint hint, nudge nudge, wink wink* _- Seraphique_


	2. In the Heights

**AN: **Here's chapter two of In The Heights. This chapter follows more along the musical's story line, I recommend listening to the song In The Heights to get the idea of what it's like. It'll make sense I promise haha.\

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or the music/storyline of the musical In The Heights

**AN 2: **This song is based on the song In the Heights from the musical In the Heights.

* * *

Earlier that morning:

Sokka woke up to the sound of his alarm and groggily got changed. He left his house right as the sun was going up. As he got closer to his little corner shop, he saw a hooded figure by the grate. As he moved closer he saw the figure had a can of spray paint, "Hey! Get away from there!" yelled Sokka as he ran towards his shop. As Sokka opened the grate to the bodega the lights around Washington Heights were turning on one by one as the occupants of the _barrio _began waking up. "Damn punk, making me run this early" grumbled Sokka as he wiped down the awning.

"Cabbages! Cabbages for sale!" the Cabbage Guy pushed his cart down the sidewalk, trying in vain to sell his precious cabbages.

"Hey Cabbage Guy! How are you?" no one knew the Cabbage Guy's real name so the _barrio_ just called him Cabbage Guy, or Cabbages.

"Same as always Sokka, same as always." said the salesman with a small smile, he waved goodbye to Sokka and continued on his way down the street.

As Sokka continued setting up his shop for opening he began thinking, _it's been a while since we first moved here_. The Luna family had moved to the United States a little after Sokka was born, five years after they moved to Washington Heights Katara was born, and it had only been three years since Katara and Sokka's mom died from cancer. Hakoda was beside himself with grief but he refused to move from the Heights, he had said that though the bad memory of her death made him want to leave, the memories that they created in that home was more than enough to keep the family in Washington Heights.

Sokka went into the staff room to get the milk out for the coffee as he grabbed the carton he felt it warm to the touch. He opened it and was greeted with the strong smell of milk gone bad, "The milk has gone bad. Hold up just a second, why is everything in this fridge warm and tepid?" he shook his head and threw the carton away, "Man, gotta step it up and fight this heat, I'm not gonna make any profit if the coffee isn't light and sweet."

"Good morning Sokka." he turned around and saw Gran Gran on her usual morning walk.

"_Hola* _Gran Gran, how are you?"

"I'm fine _mijo**_, how are you doing on this beautiful morning?" she said with a large smile, Gran Gran was always happy, nothing could ruin her mood _Patience y Fe_ was her motto, patience and faith.

"Not so good, my fridge broke, I got _café _but not _con leche_."*** he said dejectedly.

Gran Gran smiled broadly, "Try my mother's old recipe, one can of condensed milk."

Sokka smiled, "Nice."

"Alright _mijo_, _ya me voy. Patience y fe mijo!_" ****with that she smiled broadly and continued on her morning walk.

As Sokka was finishing up he looked across the street and saw the For Sale sign where the Ortega's restaurant had once been, the family had packed up and left two months prior and now the restaurant looked empty and dejected. The Ortega's weren't the first family to pack up and leave, other families had left before them, hoping to get a better start in a new city or neighborhood.

As the morning rush started he began seeing familiar faces walk in and out of his store, many just to buy coffee. "Morning _hijo_, how are you?" Hakoda always stopped by his son's corner store to see his son and to get breakfast.

"I'm good dad, and you? _Pan caliente, _and _café con leche _right?*****" Sokka had moved out of his childhood home not long ago, it was across the street from where his father lived but it was his own place nonetheless.

"My order never changes son." said Hakoda with a hearty laugh, "Oh and put twenty dollars on today's lottery."

Sokka raised his eyebrow, "One ticket that's it."

"Hey, a man's gotta dream doesn't he?" he grabbed his breakfast, "Don't forget your sister comes back today, I'm gonna be at the dispatch for a bit, then I gotta go to the bank, watch out for her will you?"

"Yeah dad, of course I will, I'll see you later." Sokka smiled, he wouldn't openly admit it but he was excited to see his baby sister again.

The morning rush continued on and true to habit, Aunt Wu and Ming walked in, gossiping all about the latest news in the _barrio_.

"So then Jessica walks in the room, she smells sex and cheap perfume! She said it smelled like one of those trees you hang in the rearview."

"Ah no, really?" questioned Ming.

"It's true! So she screams, 'Who's in there with you Alex!' she grabs a bat and kicks in the door. You'll never guess who Alex was in bed with.""Who?"

"He's in bed with June from the liquor store."

"_No me diga!_"* Ming stood shocked.

"Morning ladies," said Sokka as he began their checkout, "How's the salon?"

"Barely holding on, but holding on." said Aunt Wu as she grabbed her things.

"Have a good day."

"Thanks Sokka."

As Aunt Wu and Ming left, Aang came running in.

"Aang you're late." said Sokka as he wiped down the counter.

"Sorry Sokka, I saw a hurt squirrel and I had to help it!" said Aang, his eyes wide. Sokka shook his head and questioned why he hired the high schooler in the first place and how they were friends. Aang had moved to Washington Heights when he was twelve, he quickly became good friend with Sokka and Katara and the other kids from the neighborhood, and though they all wondered about his past and how he had moved there on his own. Aang arrived alone with a big saint Bernard on a leash who he named Appa. He wandered around the neighborhood on his own before he was taken in by old Mr. Gyatso.

"Whatever Aang, try to be on time tomorrow, you got here right at the start of the morning rush," true to his word, a mob of people rushed into the store, grabbing last minute breakfast and lunch for later. People began shouting asking the prices of various things. Having been running the shop for nearly three years now he knew the prices by heart and began firing off the prices, "One dollar. Two dollars. One Fifty. One sixty-nine. I got it. You want a box of condoms? What kind? That's two quarters, two quarter waters. The New York Times. You need a bag for that? The tax is added." As Sokka continued rattling off prices Aang asked how he could keep track of it all, "Once you get some practice at it you can do rapid mathematics automatically. Selling maxi pads and fuzzy dice for taxicabs you get used to it." slowly the morning rush subsided. Sokka grabbed his notebook with the morning's sales scribbled down on a sheet of paper. When he messed up on one of the items Sokka growled and tore out the paper, crumpled it up into a ball and tossed it across the store, aiming for the garbage can. Right as he tossed it, Sokka knew it wasn't going to make it. He had overshot it and it sailed past the garbage can hitting an incoming customer in the face.

"Oh shit." muttered Sokka as he rushed over there, "I'm sorry, I was aiming for the garbage can."

"I know, and you still don't have any skills." it had hit Zuko, another one of the new comers who had moved to Washington Heights when he looked around 18 years old, unlike Aang he had rented an apartment right from the start and he began working in the Luna family dispatch as a taxi driver. Zuko and Sokka had started off badly when Zuko began flirting with Ty-Lee, Sokka's then 'love of his life' it wasn't long until the two were nearly at each other's throats. It wasn't until Sokka caught Ty-Lee with Haru that he called a truce with Zuko and it wasn't long until the two were the best of friends.

"Hey! Morning Zuko." Sokka greeted Zuko warmly.

"Hey, so let me get a-"

"Milkyway."

"and let me also get a-"

"Daily News""and a-"

"Post."

"and most important your dad's second coffee-"

"one cream, five sugars." said the two in unison. Zuko always got the same thing, everyday for the past three years.

"So how's the job going?" asked Aang as he tidied up the halls.

Zuko laughed, "I'm the number one earner-"

"No you're not" scoffed Sokka.

Zuko continued as if he was never interrupted, "I'm the fastest learner-"

"Sure you are"

"My boss can't keep me on the damn back burner."

"Yeah, he can."

"Well I'm making cash and I'm making deals, but guess what?"

"What?" asked Sokka, eyebrow raised.

"You still ain't got no skills." chorused Zuko and Aang together laughing,

"Hardy-har." said Sokka dryly.

"So has Suki showed up yet?" asked Zuko loudly as he prepared himself a coffee.

"Dude, shut up!" Sokka looked around to see if any passer-by's heard it.

"Hey, dude, don't get so upset."

"Just tell Suki how you feel." chimed Aang.

"Take her out, buy her dinner. Seriously though, someone else is gonna try and snatch her up before you get the courage to ask her out." said Zuko, he checked his watch, "Gotta go or else I'm gonna be late. See ya." he gathered his things and headed out to where his car was parked.

Aang looked at Sokka, "He's right you know, everyone know how you feel about Suki, except for Suki."

Sokka glared at him and opened his mouth to reply when- "No, no no no. No! Wait listen!" it was Suki, she was striding down the street in shorts, low ankle boots and a tank top with her cell phone pressed to her ear, "Mr. Johnson I've got the security deposit, it's locked in a box at the bottom of my closet. I know that's it's not reflected in my bank statement but I've been saving to make the down payment and pay rent." she strode into the shop, "No, I promise I won't let you down."

"Hey, here's your chance, ask her out right now!" whisper-shouted Aang excitedly. Sokka motioned him to stop talking.

"Ok, I'll see you later so we can look at that lease." Suki smiled and put her phone in the pocket of her shorts.

"Hey, do something, make a move, don't freeze" Aang was whisper-shouting again.

"Oh! Hey, Suki!" said Sokka nervously, "How are you?""I'm great, with any luck you'll be buying me a bottle of cold champagne!"

"Have you found a place?" asked Sokka nervously. Long ago after they had graduated high school, the two had made a bet that whoever opened up a dojo first would owe the other champagne. Sokka and Suki had met at a martial arts dojo that has long since closed down, both were still passionate about martial arts and it had been Sokka's dream to open one, but when his mom died he had to help his dad save money so Katara could go to college, that was when he took over at the corner store.

"Almost, just a little credit check and Suki's dojo will be open." she smiled broadly, her eyes bright.

"Well the coffee's on the house." he pushed a foam cup over to her.

"Ok, thanks Sokka, I'll see you later. Bye Aang!" she was heading out the shop when Aang said to Sokka, "Sokka ask her out!""No way!" hissed Sokka, he turned back to where Suki was and raised his hand to wave goodbye but she was already out the door and on her way down the street to the salon.

Aang opened his mouth to say something but Sokka raised one hand, stopping him before he could get a syllable out, "Just-just go finish cleaning, I'll be in my office." Aang nodded and Sokka closed his office door behind him.

* * *

Katara: Nina (19)  
Zuko: Benny (21)  
Sokka: Usnavi (23-24)  
Aang: Sonny (16)  
GranGran: Abuela  
Aunt Wu: Daniella (45)  
Ming: Carla (19)  
Suki: Vanessa (21)  
Hakoda: Kevin (44)  
Kya: Camilla (25 at time of death)  
Toph: Graffiti Pete (15)  
June: Yolanda (20)

__Translations

_Hola* _hi, hello

_mijo**_ term of endearment, literally 'my son' _hijo_ also means son

I got _café _but not _con leche_. *** 'I have coffee but no milk

"Alright _mijo_, _ya me voy. Patience y fe mijo!_" **** "Alright son, I'll be going now. Patience and faith!"

_Pan caliente, _and _café con leche _right?***** Literally hot bread but possibly meaning pan dulce 'Mexican bread' try some, it's good. _café con leche _coffee with milk

_No me diga!_"* literally 'don't tell me' but here it's more like 'no way' or 'shut up!'

Thanks for reading! and please review!- Seraphique


	3. Zuko's Dispatch

**AN:** This took me a while to get out but here's chapter three of In The Heights. Please tell me what you think of it, all constructive criticism is appreciated._  
_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender nor it's characters, I also do not own the music of In The Heights.

**AN2:** This chapter was based off of the song Benny's Dispatch from the musical In The Heights, I recommend listening to it to get an idea of what Zuko was doing.

On to the story!

* * *

_Previously: _

"Ah, Katara."

"Gran Gran!" Katara whirled around and saw the woman the entire neighborhood had adopted as their grandmother. Katara set down her suitcase and bag and practically flew into the old woman's arms.

"Oh I've missed you so much!" she said breathlessly.

"I've missed you too _mija_"

Gran Gran led Katara to a nearby bench, "Mija, how have you been?"

"I've been better Gran Gran." sighed Katara, she looked around at the neighborhood.

"Ah, _que paso?_" she asked, she held Katara's hand in hers.

"It's complicated…a lot happened in California…" said Katara looking down, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. She had a lost look in her eyes before she was snapped out of her reverie.

"Well _mija_, _siempre estoy aqui, _I'm always here for you."

"Thank you Gran Gran." Katara leaned over and hugged the elderly woman, "I should probably go, dad's gonna be wondering where I am." she chuckled nervously.

"Alright _mija_, make sure to stop by soon, I need to get some meat on those bones, you're so skinny now!" Katara laughed nervously, she had lost a lot of weight in California, from the stress of school and the added stress that came from what had happened. Her cheekbones were more prominent, her eyes looked bigger, her waist was smaller (that was a given with the amount of weight she had lost) and her clothes hung awkwardly off her body.

"Ok, Gran Gran." she smiled softly, stood up and grabbed her bag and suit case, "I'll stop by real soon." She walked away waving goodbye. Gran Gran smiled until Katara turned away then looked down, her smile fading, "Oh _mija_. _Que te paso alla?_"

Katara stood outside her dad's dispatch office, he wasn't likely to be in the apartment until after work. She looked around at her bags at her feet, _Maybe I should have stopped by the apartment, I have a lot of things._ She laughed a bit before she gathered her things again, she opened the door and was heading to the back office she could hear something coming from inside and stopped outside the door.

* * *

_Earlier:_

Zuko made it to work just in time, he walked into the back office, coffee in hand, "Here you go Mr. Luna." he handed the coffee to him and was about to head out the door.

"Wait, Zuko come here real quick?" Hakoda was bent over his desk looking at the papers that were sprawled across his desk

"Yes sir?" he stopped in front of the desk.

"Sit down." Zuko sat nervously. "I have to go to the bank, see if I can do something to pay the bills for this month, I need you off the streets today and inside the office, I need you to run the dispatch for a bit until I get back. Think you can do that son?"

Zuko was close to beaming, though he didn't let it show, this is what he had been hoping for, a chance to move up in the business. Hiding his excitement he nodded, "Yeah I can run it for a while."

"Do you know how to do it?" asked Hakoda looking up.

"I think so sir, I've seen you do it a couple times."

"Think of this as a test run, with any luck Luna's Taxi Service will be able to merge with Rosario's Limos and we'll be able to expand."

"That's great news sir." a merger with the nearby limo service would do wonders for the company and it would give Zuko the chance to move closer to his goal.

"Alright, well I'm going now, if Katara comes by early just have her go to the office or something, though I shouldn't take that long." Hakoda stood from his desk.

"Ok Mr. Luna, will do." Zuko felt a little flutter in his stomach when he heard Katara's name. He had always thought she was pretty and interesting, but seeing as he was one of her good friends, her brother was (at the time) bigger than he was, and he was working for her dad, he had always pushed aside any thoughts of her as being more than a friend. As Hakoda was leaving, Zuko stood up, Hakoda nodded once and was out the door. Zuko waited a few seconds before he let out a yell, this was exactly the opportunity he was looking for, and he was going to take advantage of it. He raced down the stairs into the dispatch center, picked up the earphones, pressed one to his ear and pressed the button on the dispatch, "Check one two three. Check one two three, this is Zuko on the dispatch. Hey, _attention_, yo attention, I'm on the microphone this morning, honk your horn if you want it." While on the outside Zuko's character seemed very stiff and official, around his close friends and when he was alone, or when he knew people couldn't see him, he let himself be silly, now being one of those times. Seeing as he was usually the one listening in on the dispatch, he knew that it was usually pretty boring and so he did his best to liven it up, making the announcements rhyme and essentially rapping them to the cab drivers listening in, "Ok! We got traffic on the west side, get off at 79 and take the left side of Riverside Drive and you might slide. West End's your best friend if you catch the lights. Hey, don't take the Deegan, Manny Ramirez* is in town this weekend. Sorry Dominicans, take Route 87, you ain't getting back in again." as Zuko went on, Katara peeked around the corner and giggled when she saw Zuko at the microphone, she clapped a hand over her mouth and tried to leave. Zuko heard her giggle, "Hold up a minute" he set down the microphone, "Anyone there?"

Katara, still trying to contain her giggles stepped in, "Benny hey."

"Katara! You're home today!" he smiled, California had done her good, she had lost the braid that had held back her hair for as long he could remember, her skin was darker, she looked thinner, but she looked stressed even though she was smiling.

"Yeah, I am." Katara calmed herself down, she had remembered why she was there in the first place, to tell her dad that she had dropped out. "Is my dad here? I was going to stop by the apartment but I figured he would be here." she scanned the room.

"You just missed him, he said something about going to the bank." said Zuko sitting back into the chair."

"Oh, ok." she fell silent, "Anyway-"

"It's good to see your face." Zuko cut himself off before he said anything else, his ears and cheeks turning red, luckily for him it seemed like Katara hadn't heard him. _'It's good to see your face? What if she had actually heard me? _Zuko mentally slapped himself as Katara answered distractedly, "Anytime" she was now trying to lug her suitcase through the narrow hallway.

"Hey, hold up a minute, wait" Zuko stood up and took the biggest suitcase, "You used to run this dispatch right?"

Katara set down her backpack, "Once or twice, why?"

"Check the technique," Zuko smiled and turned back to the microphone, "There's a traffic accident I have to mention at the intersection of 10th avenue and the Jacob Javitz Convention Center." he was playing up the performance to make her smile or laugh again, "And check it, don't get stuck in the rubber-neckin on the 192nd. There's a double decker bus wreck," Zuko turned back to Katara and saw she had a small smile, "Now listen up people, we got a special guest here,"

Katara realized what he was wanting to do and started freaking out, "Zuko! No, what are you doing?!"

Zuko just smiled bigger, "Live and direct from a year out west, welcome her back people, she's looking pretty stressed. Katara Luna, the barrio's best" Katara was now standing next to Zuko her hands on hips, she was trying to be serious but she couldn't hold back a smile, "Honk your horns people, she's smiling. Come on Katara say hello." he passed the microphone to her, she rolled her eyes and took the microphone begrudgingly; but she smiled and said into the microphone, "Hello and good morning people! I have to say it's great to be back." she laughed and handed back the microphone.

"Thanks Zuko," she smiled, "Well I'd better go put my stuff away somewhere. Thanks for the welcome wagon" she hefted her backpack over her shoulder and grabbed the handle of her suitcase.

"Anytime, anytime Katara." as she began shuffling out the door he suddenly stood up and crossed the room. He grabbed the handle of her suitcase, "Why don't you put the stuff in your dad's office? And after you can wait here, if you want." Zuko rushed his words, stumbling over a few, "We can turn up the AC, stay here." Katara stopped, and looked at Zuko, he had a look in his eyes and she couldn't say no, and now it was too hot to be walking the two blocks and three flights of stairs by herself with her luggage. "Sure." Zuko smiled and began wheeling her suitcase to the office, "Besides, your dad should be coming back pretty soon."

Katara smiled to herself, "Sure, I guess I could stay." After they put her things away in the office, Zuko gave her the cushioned rolling desk chair and he grabbed a fold-out chair from the break room.

"So has anything changed around here?" asked Katara as she settled into the chair.

"Not really, Sokka is still chasing after Suki, Aang is…well Aang is Aang. Your dad's been fine, Gan Gran's been doing well and Aunt Wu is still gossiping at her salon. And…well that's everyone really."

"And what about you?"

Zuko looked surprised, "Me? Well uh, I've been fine?" he made it sound like a question, "What about you?" he asked quickly, wanting to steer the topic away from him, "How was California."

Katara stiffened, "California was…fine?" she opened her mouth to say more but nothing came out. Zuko looked up and saw she had a faraway look in her eyes.

"That's…good?" a silence fell between the two as Zuko waited for Katara to come out of her thoughts. After a few moments Katara, was back to herself.

"Katara, are you ok?" asked Zuko as he moved his chair closer to her. He looked at her and saw she was shaking slightly. He cautiously placed a hand on hers and asked again, "Katara, are you ok?"

"I'm fine, it's just that…well a lot of things happened in California." she said finally.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked cautiously. Katara shook her head, "Well…when you do…I'm always here." said Zuko awkwardly. She looked up at him and her eyes widened slightly when she realized how close they were. Zuko was surprised too, but he didn't move away. He unconsciously tightened his grip on her hand and they found themselves moving closer together. Right as their lips were about to touch the front door opened and the two sprung apart. Hakoda had come back, "Dad!" Katara stood up quickly and rushed into her dad's open arms.

"Katara! You're back!" he hugged her tightly, "How are you?" the two pulled away.

"A little tired," she admitted.

"Well why don't you go to the apartment? Where are your things?"

"They're in your office, Zuko helped me take them in there." she said, her voice was strong now, she showed no evidence that just seconds before she had been shaking, or that she and Zuko had almost kissed.

"Zuko, why don't you grab her things out of the office?"

Zuko quickly stood up, "Yes, sir" he looked back at Katara once more before he went into the office.

"So where were you dad?" asked Katara as she grabbed her backpack from the foot of the chair.

"I was at a meeting with a limo company.""About what?""About a possible merger between our two companies." said Hakoda, he wasn't telling her the whole truth, and Katara could tell.

"Well that's good isn't it?" she asked.

"It's a bit more complicated than you think." said Hakoda carefully.

"What do you mean?"

Hakoda opened his mouth to explain when Zuko came in through the door, lugging behind him Katara's large suitcase, "I'll explain later on at home." he said.

Katara looked at him skeptically but said nothing.

"Zuko, why don't you take Katara home? You can help her with her things." said Hakoda as he sunk into the chair at the desk.

Zuko was surprised but he nodded his head. "Katara, I'll see you at home once I'm done here. Zuko, after you drop her off, start your rounds." the two nodded and walked out the door, "I'll see you at home dad."

Hakoda merely nodded, once he heard the door close he let out a heavy sigh, _How can I ask her to marry a strange man, simply because it will help the company?_ he questioned himself. The meeting he had attended was in fact about a merger between the two companies, but Manuel Rosario had suggested that not only their companies merge, but their families. Rosario had expressed a belief that through the marriage of Katara and his son Han, the companies would be more family oriented. Hakoda had hesitated, stating that he had to talk to Katara before deciding anything.

Hakoda sighed once more and questioned whether he was doing the right thing.

* * *

**AN: **I had a hard time writing this chapter but it's coming along now (i think) anyway, please review! They make me smile.

Thank you to those who have reviewed this already, you guys made me happy

Hopefully i'll be updating more regularly, but no promises


End file.
